1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a person identification device and a person identification method in which biometric information of some of a face, retinas, mouth, irises, fingerprints, palm patterns, ears and the like of a person, and vein geometry of a part of a human body is obtained to collate the information with at least one or more pieces of beforehand registered biometric information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, for example, in a person identification device, biometric information of some of a face, retinas, mouth, irises, fingerprints, palm patterns and ears and the like of a person to be identified, and vein geometry of a part of a human body is obtained, and the obtained information is collated with at least one or more pieces of beforehand registered biometric information to thereby judge whether or not the person to be identified is a beforehand registered person (a registrant). In an access control system which controls an access to a security area or an access to a specific apparatus, or in a monitoring system which monitors people, a device has been developed which executes control in accordance with a judgment result obtained by the person identification device. Various application examples of a person identification method for use in the person identification device include a method of collating biometric information obtained from a person to be identified who stands still with beforehand registered biometric information, and a method of collating biometric information obtained from a person to be identified who is moving, for example, walking with beforehand registered biometric information.
For example, in a passer-by identification device which collates biometric information obtained from a person (a passer-by) to be identified who goes along a passageway or the like with beforehand registered biometric information, identification processing can be executed even while the person to be identified is not especially aware of the identification processing being performed. Such a passer-by identification device for identifying the passer-by also covers a case where a plurality of continuously walking passers-by are identified. In such a case, in a conventional person identification device, even the plurality of continuously walking people are individually subjected to the identification processing one by one. In addition, Jpn. Pat. No. 3617373 (Document 1) describes a technology in which the number of the continuously walking people is measured to prevent missing of people.